Methods and apparatus to facilitate target wake time management between access points and devices

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to facilitate target wake time management between access points and devices. An example station based apparatus to facilitate target wake time operations between an access point and the station includes a data manager to determine at least one of a quantity of uplink data to be sent by the station or a quantity of downlink data to be received by the station, a connection manager to schedule a connection of the station to a device different than the access point, and a target wake time negotiator in communication with a component interface to at least one of receive a signal from or distribute a signal to the access point, the signal to modify a service period of the target wake time based on at least one of the quantity of uplink data, the quantity of downlink data, or the scheduled connection.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/119,350, (Now U.S. Pat. No. 10,750,445) which was filed on Aug.31, 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/553,285, filed Sep. 1, 2017; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/553,301, filed Sep. 1, 2017; U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/553,604, filed Sep. 1, 2017;and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/553,660, filed Sep.1, 2017. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/119,350; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/553,285; U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/553,301; U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/553,604; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.62/553,660 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.Priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/119,350; U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/553,285; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/553,301; U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/553,604; and U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/553,660 is hereby claimed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to communication between accesspoints, and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to facilitatetarget wake time management between access points and devices.

BACKGROUND

Many locations provide Wi-Fi connectivity to connect Wi-Fi enableddevices to networks such as the Internet. Wi-Fi enabled devices includepersonal computers, video-game consoles, mobile phones and devices,tablets, smart televisions, digital audio player, etc. Wi-Fi allowsWi-Fi enabled devices to wirelessly access the Internet via a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN). To provide Wi-Fi connectivity to a device, aWi-Fi access point transmits a radio frequency Wi-Fi signal to the Wi-Fienabled device within the signal range of the access point (e.g., a hotspot, a modem, etc.). A Wi-Fi access point periodically sends out abeacon frame which contains information that allows Wi-Fi enableddevices to identify, connect to, and transfer data to the access point.

Wi-Fi is implemented using a set of media access control (MAC) andphysical layer (PHY) specifications (e.g., the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 protocol). Devices (e.g., accesspoints and Wi-Fi enabled devices) able to operate using IEEE 802.11protocol are referred to as stations (STA).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of communications using wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) Wi-Fi protocols to facilitate wireless connectivityincluding target wake time management between access points and devices.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example station based target wake timecontroller of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example access point based target waketime controller of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement one or more of thestations of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the access point of FIG.1.

FIG. 6 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement one or more of thestations of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the access point of FIG.1.

FIG. 8 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement one or more of thestations of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the access point of FIG.1.

FIG. 10 is an example flowchart representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to initialize a target wake timenegotiation between the access point and one or more of the stations ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a radio architecture in accordance withsome examples.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example front-end module circuitry for use in theradio architecture of FIG. 11 in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example radio IC circuitry for use in the radioarchitecture of FIG. 11 in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example baseband processing circuitry for use inthe radio architecture of FIG. 11 in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a processor platform structured to executethe example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 4-10 to implement theany one of, or any combination of, the station(s) and/or the accesspoint of FIG. 1.

The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various locations (e.g., homes, offices, coffee shops, restaurants,parks, airports, etc.) may provide Wi-Fi to the Wi-Fi enabled devices(e.g., STAs) to connect the Wi-Fi enabled devices to the Internet, orany other network, with minimal hassle. The locations may provide one ormore Wi-Fi access points (APs) to output Wi-Fi signals to the Wi-Fienabled devices within a range of the Wi-Fi signals (e.g., a hotspot). AWi-Fi AP is structured to wirelessly connect a Wi-Fi enabled device tothe Internet through a wireless local area network (WLAN) using Wi-Fiprotocols (e.g., such as IEEE 802.11). The Wi-Fi protocol is theprotocol for how the AP communicates with the devices to provide accessto the Internet by transmitting uplink (UL) transmissions and receivingdownlink (DL) transmissions to/from the Internet. Wi-Fi protocolsdescribe a variety of management frames (e.g., beacon frames and triggerframes) that facilitate the communication between access points andstations.

IEEE 802.11 standards intend to define multi user (MU) operations andalso improve power save mechanisms for STAs. In order to support the newUL and DL MU operation in addition to providing a scheduled power savemode, modifications to the existing IEEE 802.11 operation, in particularTarget Wake Time (TWT) operations are needed. In IEEE 802.11, TWT is themain power save mechanism for 11ax devices. More specifically, TWTallows a STA to negotiate a target wake time period with the AP, calledTWT service period (SP), where the STA is expected to be awake. Thereare many flavors of TWT, individual or broadcast, announced orunannounced.

In some examples of the announced version of TWT, according to the IEEE802.11 standards, the STA is allowed to skip one or more TWT SPs if theSTA does not have anything to send or if the STA notes in the beaconTraffic Indication Map (TIM) that the AP does not have anything to sendto it.

Similar to most power save mechanisms defined in IEEE802.11, the currentTWT mechanism only takes into account DL traffic. As such, the TWT SPstarts with an indication that the STA is awake (e.g., via a PS-poll, aUAPSD trigger, etc.) and ends when the AP no longer has buffered data tosend to the STA. As such, a gap exists in the IEEE802.11 standard inthat it does not support simultaneous (UL/DL) announced TWT operation.Such TWT operation would, in some examples, enable the STA to indicateto the AP that it is awake to receive DL traffic in addition toindicating when the STA has traffic to send in UL.

As such, one example embodiment relates to simultaneous uplink anddownlink with announced TWT. For example, a simultaneous uplink anddownlink with announced TWT system can be associated with the announcedTWT SP operation, both for broadcast and individual TWT. Thesimultaneous uplink and downlink with announced TWT system may addressthe gaps in IEEE802.11 by enhancing TWT mechanisms in order to take intoaccount simultaneous MU service (both DL and UL traffic).

Further, a simultaneous uplink and downlink with announced TWT systemcan add signaling that supports simultaneous (UL/DL) announced TWT SP.The simultaneous uplink and downlink with announced TWT system canmodify announced TWT such that the STA can indicate its UL buffer statusreport at the time that it indicates that it is awake and desires toparticipate in the announced TWT. If the TWT is not trigger-based, thenthe STA can send a power save poll (PS-Poll) together with a quality ofservice (QoS) null frame carrying a QoS control including the queue sizeof its UL buffer. If the TWT is trigger-based, then the AP shall triggerthe STA in a way that allows the STA to report both the fact that it isin the awake state and whether it has traffic to send in UL or not.

In one embodiment, a simultaneous uplink and downlink with announced TWTsystem can modify announced TWT so that the AP, that receives anindication from a STA that it is awake and that it has traffic to sendin UL, shall not terminate the TWT SP until the combination of A) the APno longer has buffered data for the STA in DL or has sent a frame withend of service period (EOSP) bit set to 1 and B) the STA no longer hasbuffered data for the AP in UL (buffer status report (BSR) report equalto 0) or sent a frame with EOSP bit set to 1. Alternatively, thecondition to terminate could also include at least one of the AP and/orSTA setting the EOSP bit to 1.

In other examples of TWT, according to the IEEE 802.11 standards, theSTA needs to be awake for the entire TWT SP, and there is no protocolthat enables the STA to trigger an early and/or late (e.g., the TWT SPexceeds the originally agreed upon time) TWT SP termination event.Additionally, there is an ambiguity when the actual TWT SP ends.

As such, other example embodiments relate to early and/or latetermination of the TWT SP as determined by the STA. In such examples ofearly termination, the STA modifies TWT SP termination by adding a newsignal that enables the non-AP STA to terminate a TWT SP by triggering atermination event. Further, this can be triggered by sending a framewith the EOSP bit set to 1, or by sending any indication/signaling thatis an explicit indication that the STA is moving to doze state. Furtherin such examples, the AP can receive the signaling and determine a stateof the STA based upon the aforementioned signaling.

In such examples of late termination, a TWT negotiation system canfacilitate that during the TWT negotiation, multiple modes of operationcan be agreed on between the STA and the AP. For example, a first modeof operation can include instructions that the TWT SP shall not exceedthe time set by the TWT start time and duration when one of the STAand/or the AP has connections with other devices (e.g., Wi-Ficonnections, Bluetooth® connections, LTE connections, etc.) scheduled.Thus, termination events that would lead to an extension of the TWT SPare no longer valid and/or these termination events are only validduring the TWT SP boundaries. The indication may be added in the TWTelement exchange during the negotiation, of which the STA hasconstraints for not exceeding the TWT SP boundaries (the AP or the STAor both the AP and the STA). Further, a second mode of operation caninclude instructions that the TWT SP can exceed the time set by the TWTstart time and duration. In such examples, AP control to terminate theTWT SP is preserved. If the first mode of operation is put in placeafter negotiation between the AP and the STA, the devices (e.g., the APand the STA) may rigidly abide by the TWT SP boundaries. In someexamples, for a specific TWT SP, the STA or the AP may be able totemporarily exceed the TWT SP boundary.

For example, a TWT negotiation system may define a way for the AP andthe STA to agree to exceed the TWT SP boundaries for a particular TWTSP, only during the particular TWT SP. The initiator (e.g., at least oneof the AP or the STA) may request to extend the TWT SP, and if theresponder agrees with the request, the TWT SP boundaries for theparticular TWT SP may be crossed. This signaling may be simplified ifonly one side of the link (e.g., the STA) has constraints not to crossthe TWT SP boundaries. For example, a request and a response with fullagreement from both sides (e.g., the AP and the STA) may not be needed.Instead, the signaling from the constrained device (e.g., the STA) issufficient to allow both devices (e.g., the AP and the STA) to exceedthe TWT SP boundaries.

In other examples of TWT, according to the IEEE 802.11 standards, a STAthat negotiated a trigger-based (TB) TWT with its serving AP and isoperating following this TB TWT can, in some examples, send a frame withthe multi user (MU) disabled bit set to 1 to indicate that it no longeraccepts triggering by the AP. Currently, the TB TWT is still in place,which means that the AP is supposed to send a trigger to the STA, butthe STA will not respond to the trigger.

As such, other example embodiments relate to modification, suspension,and/or termination of the TWT SP agreement as negotiated between the STAand the AP. In some examples, the trigger-based TWT agreement isautomatically transformed into a non-trigger-based TWT agreement. Thus,the negotiation for a new TWT session does not need to be completed, andthe timing of the TWT SP as well as other parameters (e.g.,announced/unannounced, etc.) remain the same as agreed previously exceptfor the trigger-based parameter. In other examples, the trigger-basedTWT agreement is suspended when the MU disable bit is set to 1. In yetother examples, the trigger-based TWT agreement is automaticallyterminated (e.g., torn down) when the MU disable bit is set to 1.

Moving to the illustrations, FIG. 1 illustrates an example communicationsystem 100 using wireless local area network Wi-Fi protocols tofacilitate wireless connectivity between an example access point (AP)102 and example STAs 104, 106, 108. The example of FIG. 1 includes theexample AP 102, the example STAs 104, 106, 108, and an example network118. The example STAs 104, 106, 108 include the example radioarchitecture 110B,C,D and the example STA based target wake timecontroller 112. The example AP 102 includes an example radioarchitecture 110A and an example AP based target wake time controller114. Additionally, in some examples of the AP 102 and the STAs 104, 106,108, the example radio architectures 110A,B,C,D may be physicallysimilar but can, in some examples, operate on different (e.g., separate)transmission and/or reception frequencies.

The example AP 102 of FIG. 1 is a device that allows the example STAs104, 106, 108 to access wirelessly the example network 118. The exampleAP 102 may be a router, a modem-router, and/or any other device thatprovides a wireless connection from the STAs 104, 106, 108 to thenetwork 118. For example, if the AP 102 is a router, the router accessesthe network 118 through a wire connection via a modem. If the AP 102 isimplemented utilizing a modem-router, such a device combines thefunctionalities of the modem and the router. In some examples, the AP102 is a STA that is communication with the STAs 104, 106, 108.

The example radio architecture 110A of the AP 102 corresponds tocomponents used to wirelessly transmit and/or receive data, as furtherdescribed below in conjunction with the examples shown in FIG. 11.Additionally, the example AP 102 may include an application processor(e.g., the example application processor 1110 of FIG. 11) to generateinstructions related to other Wi-Fi protocols.

The example STAs 104, 106, 108 of FIG. 1 are Wi-Fi enabled devices thatattempt operation with the AP 102 during a target wake time (TWT)service period (SP). The example STAs 104, 106, 108 may be, for example,a computing device, a portable device, a mobile device, a mobiletelephone, a smart phone, a tablet, a gaming system, a digital camera, adigital video recorder, a television, a set top box, an e-book reader,and/or any other Wi-Fi enabled device.

The example STAs 104, 106, 108 include the example STA based target waketime controller 112 to facilitate target wake time (TWT) service period(SP) agreements and/or modifications with the AP 102. Additionally, theSTA based target wake time controller 112 is further described inconjunction with FIG. 2.

The example AP 102 includes the example AP based target wake timecontroller 114 to facilitate TWT SP agreements and/or modifications withone or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Additionally, the AP based targetwake time controller 114, further described in conjunction with FIG. 3,can, after receiving instructions from the application processor 1110 ofFIG. 11 to transmit data, generate a data packet containing therequested data and TWT rules and/or agreements. Once the data packet hasbeen generated and segmented, the AP based target wake time controller114 transmits the segmented data packet to the example radioarchitecture 110A to be wirelessly transmitted to the requesting STA(e.g., the example STAs 104, 106, 108). The example radio architecture110A is described in further detail below in conjunction with FIG. 11.

The example parameter storer 116 of the example AP 102 of the examplecommunication system 100 of FIG. 1 is in communication with at least theradio architecture 110A and the AP based target wake time controller 114and is capable of storing one or more parameters and/or characteristicsassociated with the AP 102. In some examples, the parameter storer 116can store at least identification information associated with one ormore of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and/or TWT rules and/or agreementsbetween the AP 102 and one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108, amongothers.

Further, the parameter storer 116 may be implemented by a volatilememory (e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). Theparameter storer 116 may additionally or alternatively be implemented byone or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3,mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. The parameter storer 116 may additionally oralternatively be implemented by one or more mass storage devices such ashard disk drive(s), compact disk drive(s), digital versatile diskdrive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the parameter storer 116is illustrated as a single database, the parameter storer 116 may beimplemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Further, theparameter storer 116 be located in the AP 102 or at a central locationoutside of the AP 102. Furthermore, the data stored in the parameterstorer 116 may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data,comma delimited data, tab delimited data, structured query language(SQL) structures, etc.

The example network 118 of FIG. 1 is a system of interconnected systemsexchanging data. The example network 118 may be implemented using anytype of public or private network such as, but not limited to, theInternet, a telephone network, a local area network (LAN), a cablenetwork, and/or a wireless network. To enable communication via thenetwork 118, the example AP 102 includes a communication interface thatenables a connection to an Ethernet, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, a coaxial cable, or any wireless connection, etc. Insome examples, the example network 118 provides the requested data to beorganized into data packets.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example implementation 200 of the STAbased target wake time controller 112 of FIG. 1, disclosed herein, tofacilitate negotiation and/or modification of a TWT SP between the AP102 and one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108. The example STA basedtarget wake time controller 112 includes an example component interface202, an example data manager 204, an example connection manager 206, anexample target wake time (TWT) negotiator 208, and an example targetwake time (TWT) rule storer 210. While in the illustrated example, eachof the STAs 104, 106, 108 includes the STA based target wake timecontroller 112, one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108 may not include orotherwise implement the STA based target wake time controller 112 or oneor more components included in the STA based target wake time controller112.

The example component interface 202 of FIG. 2 interfaces with theapplication processor 1110 to transmit signals (e.g., instructions tooperate according to a protocol) and/or receive signals (e.g.,instructions corresponding to which ACK type to use) from the exampleapplication processor 1110. Additionally, the example componentinterface 202 interfaces with the example radio architecture(s) 110B,C,Dto instruct the radio architecture(s) 110B,C,D to transmit datapacket/frames to and/or to receive data packets from the radioarchitecture 110A.

The example data manager 204, included in or otherwise implemented bythe STA based target wake time controller 112 of FIG. 2, can manage atleast one of a queue associated with data included in an uplink (UL)buffer (e.g., data to be sent from one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 to theAP 102) and/or a queue associated with data included in a downlink (DL)buffer (e.g., data to be sent from the AP 102 to one of the STAs 104,106, 108).

In some examples, the data manager 204 can additionally or alternativelygenerate one or more reports including a quantity of data (e.g., 400 kB,6 MB, 1.3 GB, etc.) queued in at least one of the UL buffer and/or theDL buffer. In such examples, the report(s) generated by the data manger204 can additionally or alternatively include a binary data bit denotingwhether one of the UL buffer or the DL buffer includes a non-zeroquantity of data (e.g., the bit set to 1 when the respective bufferincludes a non-zero quantity of data and the bit set to 0 when therespective buffer includes no data, etc.). Additionally, the data manger204 can distribute the one or more generated report(s) to at least oneof the component interface 202, the TWT negotiator 208, and/or the TWTrule storer 210.

The example connection manager 206, included in or otherwise implementedby the STA based target wake time controller 112 of FIG. 2, candetermine whether other connections (e.g., Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth®connections, LTE connections, etc.) are scheduled for the respective oneof the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a device other than the AP 102 (e.g., apeer to peer connection with another station, a connection with anaccess point different than the AP 102, etc.).

In some examples, the connection manager 206 can generate a reportincluding a listing of connections scheduled for the respective one ofthe STAs 104, 106, 108, the report including at least one of an identifyof the other connecting device (e.g., the device is a second accesspoint, a cellular device, a server, etc.), a scheduled time of the otherconnection (e.g., including at least one of a scheduled start time, endtime, and/or duration of connection), and/or a connection type of theother connection (e.g., Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth® connections, LTEconnections, etc.). Additionally, the data manger 204 can distribute theone or more generated report(s) to at least one of the componentinterface 202, the TWT negotiator 208, and/or the TWT rule storer 210.

The example TWT negotiator 208, included in or otherwise implemented bythe STA based target wake time controller 112 of FIG. 2, is capable ofnegotiating and/or modifying one or more parameters of a target waketime (TWT) agreement between the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106,108 and the AP 102.

In some examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can determine a wakefulnessstate of the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 as retrieved fromthe TWT rule storer 210. In such examples, the TWT negotiator 208 isfurther to set an end of service period (EOSP) bit to 0 if therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is awake (e.g., active) and setthe EOSP bit to 1 if the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 isdozing (e.g., sleeping, inactive, etc.). Further in such examples, theTWT negotiator 208 determines a target wake time (TWT) mode of theconnection between the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and theexample AP 102 as retrieved from the TWT rule storer 210. In suchexamples, the TWT mode can include at least one of trigger basedcommunication or non-trigger based communication.

In such examples, in response to determining the TWT mode includesnon-trigger based communication, the TWT negotiator 208 can transmit theUL buffer status report indicating a queue size of the UL buffer to theAP 102 via the component interface 202 and at least one of the radioarchitecture(s) 110A,B,C,D via a power save poll (e.g., a PS-Poll)including a Quality of Service (QoS) null frame indicating the queuesize. Additionally or alternatively, in response to determining the TWTmode includes trigger based communication, the TWT negotiator 208 cantransmit each of the EOSP bit and the UL buffer status report to the AP102 via the component interface 202 and at least one of the radioarchitecture(s) 110A,B,C,D

In other examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can query at least one of thedata manager 204 or the connection manager 206 to determine whether therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is ready to terminate the TWTSP. In such examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can determine the TWT SPcan be terminated in response to the query of the data manger 204returning an indication that there is no data queued in the UL buffer.Additionally or alternatively, the TWT negotiator 208 can determine theTWT SP can be terminated in response to the query of the connectionmanager 206 indicating a scheduled connection between the respective oneof the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a device other than the AP 102. In eithercase, the TWT negotiator 208 can set an end of service period (EOSP) bitto 0 (e.g., terminate the TWT SP) and distribute a frame including theEOSP bit to the AP 102 via the component interface 202 and at least oneof the radio architecture(s) 110A,B,C,D. In other examples, an EOSP bitset to 1 can denote the TWT SP is to be terminated.

In other such examples, the TWT negotiator 208 determines the respectiveone of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is not ready to terminate the TWT SP.Further in such examples, the TWT negotiator 208 sets an end of serviceperiod (EOSP) bit to 1 (e.g., maintain the TWT SP) and distributes aframe including the EOSP bit to the AP 102 via the component interface202 and at least one of the radio architecture(s) 110A,B,C,D. In otherexamples, an EOSP bit set to 0 can denote the TWT SP is to bemaintained.

In other examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can query the connectionmanager 206 to determine whether other connections (e.g., Wi-Ficonnections, Bluetooth® connections, LTE connections, etc.) arescheduled for the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a deviceother than the AP 102 (e.g., a peer to peer connection with anotherstation, a connection with an access point different than the AP 102,etc.). In such examples, in response to determining other connectionsare scheduled, the TWT negotiator 208 can initialize a first mode forthe respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the first mode includinginstructions to not allow for an extension of the TWT service period(e.g., in order to facilitate the scheduled connections of therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a device other than the AP102).

For example, the TWT negotiator 208 may modify the TWT setup negotiationby defining a new field (e.g., one bit) in the TWT element that can benamed (e.g., strict respect of the TWT SP boundaries) and set to 1 todisallow extension of the TWT SP beyond the TWT SP boundaries. Forexample, the new field can be in the control field, where there arecurrently four reserved bits. In some examples, the TWT negotiator 208can define a bit in the high efficiency (HE) operation element or in theHE capabilities element from the HE non-AP STA(s) and/or from the HE APSTA(s) that operates with the same function (e.g., to indicate whetherthe communication link is to proceed with strict respect of the TWT SPboundaries). During negotiation of the TWT SP, when the bit in the HEoperation element or the HE capabilities element is set to 1, both theAP(s) and the STA(s) may agree that the TWT SP cannot exceed the TWT SPboundaries (e.g., the STA(s) may be in a doze state).

Additionally or alternatively, in response to determining no otherconnections are scheduled, the TWT negotiator 208 initializes a secondmode for the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the second modeincluding instructions to allow for an extension of the TWT serviceperiod (e.g., due to a lack of constraints related to other scheduledconnections of the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and in orderto facilitate additional data transfer between the respective one of theSTAs 104, 106, 108 and the AP 102). For example, the TWT negotiator 208may set the new field in the TWT element to 0 to allow extension of theTWT SP beyond the TWT SP boundaries. In additional or alternativeexamples, when the bit in the HE operation element or the HEcapabilities element is set to 0, restrictions on exceeding the TWT SPboundaries may not present.

In some examples, the TWT negotiator 208 facilitates new signaling for atemporary extension of an individual TWT SP. For example, the TWTnegotiator 208 can temporally extend the TWT SP boundaries of anindividual TWT SP in the first mode (e.g., when the AP(s) and the STA(s)negotiated TWT SPs so that the TWT SP boundaries cannot be exceeded).For example, to facilitate temporary TWT SP extension, the TWTnegotiator 208 includes a single bit in a frame transmitted during theTWT SP. In such an example, the TWT negotiator 208 may use (1) onereserved bit in the operation mode indication (OMI) A-control field or(2) one reserved bit in any other A-control field types. If theA-control field carrying this bit is sent during the TWT SP and the bitis set to 1, then, for the current TWT SP only, the STA(s) that sentthis bit allows the TWT SP boundaries of the TWT AP to be exceeded.Utilizing the OMI A-control field type is beneficial if a responseand/or a confirmation is/are desired from the other side of thecommunication link because the OMI A-control field is a type ofA-control field that requires acknowledgement from the other side of thecommunication link.

In some examples, if the TWT negotiator 208 is to include informationabout how long the TWT SP boundaries can be extended, the TWT negotiator208 may implement additional signaling. For example, for a newly definedA-control field type (e.g., for TWT SP extension), the TWT negotiator208 can indicate the duration to be added to the TWT SP as an extension.In additional or alternative examples, the TWT negotiator 208 mayutilize specific frames instead of or in addition to using A-controlfields. For example, the TWT negotiator 208 may define a new TWTextension frame. Additionally or alternatively, the TWT negotiator 208may reuse the TWT information frame. As there are no available reservedbits in the TWT information element, the TWT negotiator 208 may includea new complementary element to the TWT information frame. Thiscomplementary element may include the indication that the associated TWTinformation frame is for extending the ongoing TWT SP. When thecomplementary element is present, the TWT information element isrepurposed to carry information related to the extension. For example,the next TWT field may be reused to carry the duration of the extension.

In yet other examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can determine the AP 102and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 are operating in a trigger based (TB)target wake time (TWT) mode based on an in-place target wake time (TWT)agreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In suchexamples, this facilitates the enablement of multi user (MU) operationof the AP 102. Further, the TWT negotiator 208 can set the MU bit to 1,thereby disabling MU and TB operation, and transmits the bit in a frameto the AP 102 via the component interface 202 and at least one of theradio architecture(s) 110A,B,C,D.

In such examples, in response to setting the MU bit to 1, the TWTnegotiator 208 can, in tandem with the TWT negotiator 304, negotiate atleast one of a modified, replacement, and/or suspended TWT agreement.For example, the TWT negotiator 208 can negotiate a modified TWTagreement, the modified TWT agreement including non-trigger based(non-TB) communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106,108. In some examples, the remaining parameters of the TWT agreementremain unchanged. Additionally or alternatively, the TWT negotiator 208can modify one or more of the remaining parameters of the TWT agreement(e.g., timing, announcement mode, etc.) in addition to the non-TBcommunication modification.

In other examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can terminate the present TWTagreement and negotiate a new TWT agreement including non-trigger based(non-TB) communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106,108. In some examples, the remaining parameters of the TWT agreementremain unchanged compared to the original TWT agreement. Additionally oralternatively, the TWT negotiator 208 can modify one or more of theremaining parameters of the new TWT agreement (e.g., timing,announcement mode, etc.) in addition to the non-TB communicationmodification. In yet other examples, the TWT negotiator 208 can suspendthe in-place TWT agreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104,106, 108

The example TWT rule storer 210, included in or otherwise implemented bythe example STA based target wake time controller 112 of FIG. 2, iscapable of storing one or more parameters and/or characteristicsassociated with the AP 102 and/or one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In someexamples, the TWT rule storer 210 can store one or more TWT rules and/oragreements utilized by one of the STAs 104, 106, 108.

Further, the TWT rule storer 210 may be implemented by a volatile memory(e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). TheTWT rule storer 210 may additionally or alternatively be implemented byone or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3,mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. The TWT rule storer 210 may additionally oralternatively be implemented by one or more mass storage devices such ashard disk drive(s), compact disk drive(s), digital versatile diskdrive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the TWT rule storer 210is illustrated as a single database, the TWT rule storer 210 may beimplemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Further, the TWTrule storer 210 may be located in one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 or at acentral location outside of one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Furthermore,the data stored in the TWT rule storer 210 may be in any data formatsuch as, for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimiteddata, structured query language (SQL) structures, etc.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example implementation 300 of the APbased target wake time controller 114 of FIG. 1, disclosed herein, tofacilitate negotiation and/or modification of a TWT SP between the AP102 and one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108. The AP based target waketime controller 114 includes an example component interface 302, anexample TWT negotiator 304, and an example TWT rule storer 306.

The example component interface 302 of FIG. 3 interfaces with theapplication processor 1110 to transmit signals (e.g., instructions tooperate according to a protocol) and/or receive signals (e.g.,instructions corresponding to a received preamble) from the exampleapplication processor 1110. Additionally, the example componentinterface 302 interfaces with the example radio architecture 110A toinstruct the radio architecture 110A to transmit data packet/frames toand/or to receive data packets from the radio architecture(s) 110B,C,D.

The example TWT negotiator 304 of the example AP based target wake timecontroller 114 of FIG. 3, in some examples, is capable of negotiatingand/or modifying one or more parameters of a target wake time (TWT)agreement between the corresponding one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 andthe AP 102.

In some examples, the TWT negotiator 304 can at least of initialize aTWT service period (SP) between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106,108 and/or maintain the TWT SP between the AP 102 and one of the STAs104, 106, 108.

In some examples, the TWT negotiator 304 can query the componentinterface 302 of the AP 102 to determine whether the AP 102 has receiveda message from a respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In responseto the query returning no received messages, the TWT negotiator 304 canmaintain the TWT SP. Conversely, in response to the query returning oneor more messages from one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the TWT negotiator304 can access the contents of the message received by the AP 102. Insuch examples, determining the contents of the message further includesidentifying which of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 sent the message.

In such examples, the TWT negotiator 304 determines whether the messageincludes at least one of an end of service period bit (EOSP) and itsrespective state and an uplink (UL) buffer status report and arespective quantity of data in queue in the buffer for one of the STAs104, 106, 108. In response to the TWT negotiator 304 determining atleast one of the EOSP bit indicates that the one of the STAs 104, 106,108 is dozing or there is no data in queue in the buffer of the one ofthe STAs 104, 106, 108, the TWT negotiator 304 retrieves at least one ofthe downlink (DL) buffer status report or one or more frames sent fromthe AP 102 to one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 (e.g., the one or moreframes, in some examples, including the EOSP bit) from the TWT rulestorer 306.

In response to each of the EOSP bit indicating the TWT SP is to beterminated and the DL buffer status report indicating no data in queue,the TWT negotiator 304 terminates the TWT SP between the AP 102 andrespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Alternatively, in response toat least one of the EOSP bit indicating the TWT SP is to be maintainedor the DL buffer status indicating a non-zero quantity of data in queue,the TWT negotiator 304 maintains the TWT SP between the AP 102 andrespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Similarly, in response to theTWT negotiator 304 determining there is a quantity of data in queue inthe UL buffer of the one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the TWT negotiator304 maintains the TWT SP.

In other examples, the message retrieved from the component interface302 by the TWT negotiator 304 includes an indication of whether therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 can extend a service period(SP) (e.g., due to the STAs 104, 106, 108 not having any scheduledconnections) or cannot extend the SP (e.g., based upon other connections(e.g., Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth® connections, LTE connections, etc.)scheduled for the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a deviceother than the AP 102 (e.g., a peer to peer connection with anotherstation, a connection with an access point different than the AP 102,etc.)).

In such examples, in response to the message retrieved by the componentinterface 302 indicating the TWT SP cannot be extended, the TWTnegotiator 304 terminates the TWT SP between the AP 102 and respectiveone of the STAs 104, 106, 108 at a previously scheduled (e.g., agreedupon) time. Conversely, in response to the message retrieved by thecomponent interface 302 indicating the TWT SP can be extended, the TWTnegotiator 304 determines whether data is queued in at least one of anuplink (UL) buffer of one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and/or a downlink(DL) buffer of the AP 102. In response to determining data is in queuein at least one of an UL buffer or the DL buffer, the TWT negotiator 304negotiates an extension to the TWT SP with one of the STAs 104, 106, 108for at least a quantity of time to distribute the data queued in atleast one of the UL buffer of the respective one of the STAs 104, 106,108 and/or the DL buffer of the AP 102. Conversely, in response todetermining no data is in queue, the TWT negotiator 304 determines theTWT SP between the AP 102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108can be terminated at the scheduled time.

In yet other examples, the TWT negotiator 304 can determine the AP 102and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 are operating in a trigger based (TB)target wake time (TWT) mode based on an in-place target wake time (TWT)agreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In suchexamples, this facilitates the enablement of multi user (MU) operationof the AP 102. Further, the TWT negotiator 304 can, in some examples,receive an MU bit set to 1 from one or more of the STAs 104, 106, 108,thereby disabling MU and TB operation.

In such examples, in response to receiving the MU bit set to 1 from oneor more of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the TWT negotiator 304 can, in tandemwith the TWT negotiator 208, negotiate at least one of a modified,replacement, and/or suspended TWT agreement. For example, the TWTnegotiator 304 can negotiate a modified TWT agreement, the modified TWTagreement including non-trigger based (non-TB) communication between theAP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In some examples, theremaining parameters of the TWT agreement remain unchanged. Additionallyor alternatively, the TWT negotiator 304 can modify one or more of theremaining parameters of the TWT agreement (e.g., timing, announcementmode, etc.) in addition to the non-TB communication modification.

In other examples, the TWT negotiator 304 can terminate the present TWTagreement and negotiate a new TWT agreement including non-trigger based(non-TB) communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106,108. In some examples, the remaining parameters of the TWT agreementremain unchanged compared to the original TWT agreement. Additionally oralternatively, the TWT negotiator 304 can modify one or more of theremaining parameters of the new TWT agreement (e.g., timing,announcement mode, etc.) in addition to the non-TB communicationmodification. In yet other examples, the TWT negotiator 304 can suspendthe in-place TWT agreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104,106, 108

The example TWT rule storer 306, included in or otherwise implemented bythe example AP based target wake time controller 114 of FIG. 3, iscapable of storing one or more parameters and/or characteristicsassociated with the AP 102 and/or one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In someexamples, the TWT rule storer 306 can store one or more TWT rules and/oragreements utilized by the example AP 102.

Further, the TWT rule storer 306 may be implemented by a volatile memory(e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). TheTWT rule storer 306 may additionally or alternatively be implemented byone or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3,mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. The TWT rule storer 306 may additionally oralternatively be implemented by one or more mass storage devices such ashard disk drive(s), compact disk drive(s), digital versatile diskdrive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the TWT rule storer 306illustrated as a single database, the TWT rule storer 306 may beimplemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Further, the TWTrule storer 306 can be located in the AP 102 or at a central locationoutside of the AP 102. Furthermore, the data stored in the TWT rulestorer 306 may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data,comma delimited data, tab delimited data, structured query language(SQL) structures, etc.

While an example manner of implementing the example STA based targetwake time controller 112 and/or the AP based target wake time controller114 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and/or 3, one or more of theelements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIGS. 2 and/or 3 maybe combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/orimplemented in any other way. Further, the example component interface202, the example data manager 204, the example connection manager 206,the example TWT negotiator 208, the example component interface 302, theexample TWT negotiator 304, and/or, more generally, the example STAbased target wake time controller 112 and/or the example AP based targetwake time controller 114 may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.Thus, for example, any of the example component interface 202, theexample data manager 204, the example connection manager 206, theexample TWT negotiator 208, the example component interface 302, theexample TWT negotiator 304, and/or, more generally, the example STAbased target wake time controller 112 and/or the example AP based targetwake time controller 114 could be implemented by one or more analog ordigital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s),programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)),digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example STA basedtarget wake time controller 112, the example AP based target wake timecontroller 114, the example component interface 202, the example datamanager 204, the example connection manager 206, the example TWTnegotiator 208, the example component interface 302, and/or the exampleTWT negotiator 304 is/are hereby expressly defined to include anon-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such asa memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-raydisk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, theexample STA based target wake time controller 112 and/or the example APbased target wake time controller 114 of FIG. 1 may include one or moreelements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIGS. 2 and/or 3, and/or may include more than one of anyor all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. As usedherein, the phrase “in communication,” including variations thereof,encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communication throughone or more intermediary components, and does not require directphysical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, butrather additionally includes selective communication at periodicintervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-timeevents.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the example STA based target waketime controller 112 and/or the example AP based target wake timecontroller 114 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 4-10. The machine readableinstructions may be an executable program or portion of an executableprogram for execution by a computer processor such as the processor 1512shown in the example processor platform 1500 discussed below inconnection with FIG. 15. The program may be embodied in software storedon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, afloppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associatedwith the processor 1512, but the entire program and/or parts thereofcould alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor1512 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further,although the example programs are described with reference to theflowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 4-10, many other methods of implementingthe example STA based target wake time controller 112 and/or the exampleAP based target wake time controller 114 of FIG. 1 may alternatively beused. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed,and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, orcombined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may beimplemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/orintegrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 4-10 may beimplemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the contextof describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context ofdescribing the performance or execution of processes, instructions,actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B”is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at leastone A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

The program of FIG. 4 includes block 402 at which the example componentinterface 202 included in one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108retrieves an uplink (UL) buffer status report from the data manager 204.In some examples, the status report includes an indication of a quantityof data (e.g., 300 kB, 2 MB, 12.6 MB, etc.) in queue in the buffer of atleast one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the retrieval of thestatus report, processing proceeds to block 404.

At block 404, the TWT negotiator 208 determines a wakefulness state ofthe respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 as retrieved from the TWTrule storer 210. In some examples at block 404, the TWT negotiator 208is further to set an end of service period (EOSP) bit to 0 if therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is awake (e.g., active) and setthe EOSP bit to 1 if the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 isdozing (e.g., sleeping, inactive, etc.). In other examples, the EOSP bitcan be set to any value to indicate one of awake and/or dozing. Inresponse to the setting of the EOSP bit, processing proceeds to block406.

At block 406, the TWT negotiator 208 determines a target wake time (TWT)mode of the connection between the respective one of the STAs 104, 106,108 and the example AP 102 as retrieved from the TWT rule storer 210. Insome examples, the TWT mode can include at least one of trigger basedcommunication or non-trigger based communication. At block 408, based onthe TWT mode determination made at block 406, processing proceeds toblock 410 if the TWT mode of the respective one of the example STAs 104,106, 108 is determined to be trigger based. Alternatively, in responseto determining the TWT mode of the respective one of the example STAs104, 106, 108 is not trigger based, processing proceeds to block 414.

At block 410, in response to determining the TWT mode is trigger based,the component interface 202 awaits a trigger from the AP 102. Inresponse to receiving the trigger from the AP 102, processing proceedsto block 412.

At block 412, in response to the component interface 202 receiving thetrigger from the AP 102, the TWT negotiator 208 retrieves the previouslyset EOSP bit and the UL buffer status of the respective one of the STAs104, 106, 108 and transmits each of the EOSP bit and the UL bufferstatus report to the AP 102 via the component interface 202 and at leastone of the radio architecture(s) 110A,B,C,D and the program 400 of FIG.4 ends.

At block 414, the TWT negotiator 208 determines that the target waketime mode is not trigger based (e.g., non-trigger based, etc.). In someexamples at block 414, the TWT negotiator 208 is further to store anindication of the TWT mode in the TWT rule storer 210 and processingproceeds to block 416. At block 416, the TWT negotiator 208 retrievesthe UL buffer status of the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108.Additionally, the TWT negotiator 208 transmits the UL buffer statusreport indicating a queue size of the UL buffer to the AP 102 via thecomponent interface 202 and at least one of the radio architecture(s)110A,B,C,D via a power save poll (e.g., a PS-Poll) including a Qualityof Service (QoS) null frame indicating the queue size. In response tothe transmittal of the PS-Poll, the program 400 of FIG. 4 ends.

The program of FIG. 5 includes block 502 at which the example targetwake time negotiator 304 included in the example AP 102, incommunication with the example TWT negotiator 208 in one of the exampleSTAs 104, 106, 108, initializes a TWT service period (SP) between the AP102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the initializationof the TWT SP, processing proceeds to block 504 where the TWT negotiator304 maintains the TWT SP between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104,106, 108.

At block 506, the TWT negotiator 304 queries the component interface 302of the AP 102 to determine whether the AP 102 has received a messagefrom a respective of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the queryreturning no received messages, processing returns to block 504 wherethe TWT negotiator 304 maintains the TWT SP. Conversely, in response tothe query returning one or more messages from one of the STAs 104, 106,108, processing proceeds to block 508 at which the TWT negotiator 304accesses the contents of the message received by the AP 102. In someexamples, determining the contents of the message further includesidentifying which of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 sent the message.

At block 510, the TWT negotiator 304 determines whether the messageincludes at least one of an end of service period bit (EOSP) and itsrespective state and an uplink (UL) buffer status report and arespective quantity of data in queue in the buffer for one of the STAs104, 106, 108. In response to the TWT negotiator 304 determining atleast one of the EOSP bit indicates the one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 isdozing or there is no data in queue in the buffer of the one of the STAs104, 106, 108, processing proceeds to block 512. Alternatively, inresponse to the TWT negotiator 304 determining at least one of the EOSPbit indicates the one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is awake or there is aquantity of data in queue in the buffer of the one of the STAs 104, 106,108, processing returns to block 504.

At block 512, the TWT negotiator 304 retrieves at least one of thedownlink (DL) buffer status report or one or more frames sent from theAP 102 to one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 (e.g., the one or more frames,in some examples, including the EOSP bit) from the TWT rule storer 306.

At block 514, based on the data retrieved from the TWT rule storer 306,the TWT negotiator 304 determines whether the EOSP indicates the TWT SPis to be terminated and/or whether the DL buffer status report indicatesa non-zero quantity of queued data to be distributed to one of the STAs104, 106, 108. In response to each of the EOSP bit indicating the TWT SPis to be terminated and the DL buffer status report indicating no datain queue, processing proceeds to block 516. Alternatively, in responseto at least one of the EOSP bit indicating the TWT SP is to bemaintained or the DL buffer status indicating a non-zero quantity ofdata in queue, processing returns to block 504 where the TWT negotiator304 maintains the TWT SP between the AP 102 and respective one of theSTAs 104, 106, 108.

At block 516, the TWT negotiator 304 terminates the TWT SP between theAP 102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and the program 500of FIG. 5 ends.

The program of FIG. 6 includes block 602 at which the example targetwake time negotiator 208 included in at least one of the example STAs104, 106, 108, in communication with the example TWT negotiator 304 ofthe example AP 102, initializes a TWT service period (SP) between the AP102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the initializationof the TWT SP, processing proceeds to block 604 where the TWT negotiator208 maintains the TWT SP between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104,106, 108.

At block 606, the TWT negotiator 208 queries at least one of the datamanager 204 or the connection manager 206 to determine whether therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is ready to terminate the TWTSP. In some examples, the TWT negotiator 208 determines the TWT SP canbe terminated in response to the query of the data manger 204 returningan indication that there is no data queued in the UL buffer. In otherexamples, the TWT negotiator 208 determines the TWT SP can be terminatedin response to the query of the connection manager 206 indicating ascheduled connection between the respective one of the STAs 104, 106,108 and a device other than the AP 102. In response to determining therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is ready to terminate the TWTSP, processing returns to block 610. Conversely, in response todetermining the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 is not ready toterminate the TWT SP, processing proceeds to block 608.

At block 608, the TWT negotiator 208 sets an end of service period(EOSP) bit to 1 (e.g., maintain the TWT SP) and distributes a frameincluding the EOSP bit to the AP 102 via the component interface 202 andat least one of the radio architecture(s) 110A,B,C,D. In other examples,an EOSP bit set to 0 can denote the TWT SP is to be maintained. Inresponse to the distribution of the EOSP bit, processing returns toblock 604.

At block 610, the TWT negotiator 208 sets an end of service period(EOSP) bit to 0 (e.g., terminate the TWT SP) and distributes a frameincluding the EOSP bit to the AP 102 via the component interface 202 andat least one of the radio architecture(s) 110A,B,C,D. In other examples,an EOSP bit set to 1 can denote the TWT SP is to be terminated. Inresponse to the distribution of the EOSP bit, the program 600 of FIG. 6ends.

The program of FIG. 7 includes block 702 at which the example targetwake time negotiator 304 included in the AP 102, in communication withthe example TWT negotiator 208 of at least one of the example STAs 104,106, 108, initializes a TWT service period (SP) between the AP 102 andone of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the initialization of theTWT SP, processing proceeds to block 704 where the TWT negotiator 208maintains the TWT SP between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106,108.

At block 706, the TWT negotiator 304 queries the component interface 302of the AP 102 to determine whether the AP 102 has received a messagefrom a respective of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In some examples, inresponse to the query returning one or more messages, the TWT negotiator304 accesses the contents of the message received by the AP 102. In someexamples, accessing the contents of the message further includesidentifying which of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 sent the message.

At block 708, the TWT negotiator 304 determines whether one or more ofthe message includes a frame including an end of service period (EOSP)bit set to 0 (e.g., the TWT SP is set to be terminated). In otherexamples, the EOSP bit set to 1 can be used to indicate the TWT SP is tobe terminated. In either case, in response to the frame indicating theTWT SP is to be terminated, processing proceeds to block 710.Conversely, in response to the frame indicating the TWT SP is not to beterminated, processing returns to block 704 where the TWT negotiator 304maintains the TWT SP.

At block 710, the TWT negotiator 304 terminates the TWT SP between theAP 102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and the program 700of FIG. 7 ends.

The program of FIG. 8 includes block 802 at which the example targetwake time negotiator 208 included in at least one of the example STAs104, 106, 108, in communication with the example TWT negotiator 304 ofthe example AP 102, initializes a TWT service period (SP) between the AP102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the initializationof the TWT SP, processing proceeds to block 804.

At block 804, the TWT negotiator 208 queries the connection manager 206to determine whether other connections (e.g., Wi-Fi connections,Bluetooth® connections, LTE connections, etc.) are scheduled for therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a device other than the AP102 (e.g., a peer to peer connection with another station, a connectionwith an access point different than the AP 102, etc.).

At block 806, in response to the query of the connection manager 206determining other connections with the respective one of the STAs 104,106, 108 are scheduled, processing proceeds to block 808. Conversely, inresponse to the query of the connection manager 206 determining no otherconnections are scheduled, processing proceeds to block 812.

At block 808, the TWT negotiator 208 initializes a first mode for therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the first mode includinginstructions to not allow for an extension of the TWT service period(e.g., in order to facilitate the scheduled connections of therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and a device other than the AP102). In response to initialization of the first mode, processingproceeds to block 810, where the TWT negotiator 208 terminates the TWTSP between the AP 102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 at apreviously scheduled (e.g., agreed upon) time and the example program800 of FIG. 8 ends.

At block 812, the TWT negotiator 208 initializes a second mode for therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the second mode includinginstructions to allow for an extension of the TWT service period (e.g.,due to a lack of constraints related to other scheduled connections ofthe respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and in order to facilitateadditional data transfer between the respective one of the STAs 104,106, 108 and the AP 102).

At block 814, in response to determining the TWT SP can be extended, theTWT negotiator 208 queries the data manager 204 to determine whetherdata is queued in at least one of an uplink (UL) buffer of one of theSTAs 104, 106, 108 and/or a downlink (DL) buffer of the AP 102. Inresponse to determining data is in queue in at least one of an UL bufferor the DL buffer, processing proceeds to block 816. Conversely, inresponse to determining no data is in queue, processing returns to block810 where the TWT negotiator 208 determines the TWT SP between the AP102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 can be terminated atthe scheduled time and the program 800 of FIG. 8 ends.

At block 816, the TWT negotiator 208 negotiates an extension to the TWTSP with the AP 102 for at least a quantity of time to distribute thedata queued in at least one of the UL buffer of the respective one ofthe STAs 104, 106, 108 and/or the DL buffer of the AP 102 and theprogram 800 of FIG. 8 ends.

The program of FIG. 9 includes block 902 at which the example targetwake time negotiator 304 included in the AP 102, in communication withthe example TWT negotiator 208 of at least one of the example STAs 104,106, 108, initializes a TWT service period (SP) between the AP 102 andone of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to the initialization of theTWT SP, processing proceeds to block 904.

At block 904, the TWT negotiator 304 reviews one or more messagesreceives from one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, the message retrieved bythe component interface 302 via one or more of the radio architecture(s)110A,B,C,D. In some examples, the message includes an indication ofwhether the respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 can extend aservice period (SP) (e.g., due to the STAs 104, 106, 108 not having anyscheduled connections) or cannot extend the SP (e.g., based upon otherconnections (e.g., Wi-Fi connections, Bluetooth® connections, LTEconnections, etc.) scheduled for the respective one of the STAs 104,106, 108 and a device other than the AP 102 (e.g., a peer to peerconnection with another station, a connection with an access pointdifferent than the AP 102, etc.)).

At block 906, in response to the message retrieved by the componentinterface 302 indicating the TWT SP cannot be extended, processingproceeds to block 908. Conversely, in response to the message indicatingthe SP can be extended, processing proceeds to block 910.

At block 908, the TWT negotiator 304 terminates the TWT SP between theAP 102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 at a previouslyscheduled (e.g., agreed upon) time and the example program 900 of FIG. 9ends.

At block 910, in response to determining the TWT SP can be extended, theTWT negotiator 304 determines whether data is queued in at least one ofan uplink (UL) buffer of one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and/or a downlink(DL) buffer of the AP 102. In response to determining data is in queuein at least one of an UL buffer or the DL buffer, processing proceeds toblock 912. Conversely, in response to determining no data is in queue,processing returns to block 908 where the TWT negotiator 304 determinesthe TWT SP between the AP 102 and respective one of the STAs 104, 106,108 can be terminated at the scheduled time and the program 900 of FIG.9 ends.

At block 912, the TWT negotiator 304 negotiates an extension to the TWTSP with one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 for at least a quantity of time todistribute the data queued in at least one of the UL buffer of therespective one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 and/or the DL buffer of the AP102 and the program 900 of FIG. 9 ends.

The program of FIG. 10 includes block 1002 at which the TWTnegotiator(s) 208, 304 determine the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104,106, 108 are operating in a trigger based (TB) target wake time (TWT)mode based on an in-place target wake time (TWT) agreement between theAP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In some examples, thisfacilitates the enablement of multi user (MU) operation of the AP 102.At block 1004, the TWT negotiator 208 sets the MU bit to 1, therebydisabling MU and TB operation, and transmits the bit in a frame to theAP 102 via the component interface 202 and at least one of the radioarchitecture(s) 110A,B,C,D. While in the illustrated example setting theMU bit to 1 disables MU operation, any other state of the MU bit (e.g.,0, low, etc.) can be used to disable MU operation.

At block 1006, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 determine whether it isdesired to automatically modify the in-place TWT agreement between theAP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In response to determining itis desired to automatically modify the in-place TWT agreement,processing proceeds to block 1012. Conversely, in response todetermining it is not desired to automatically modify the TWT agreementbetween the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, processingproceeds to block 1008.

At block 1008, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 determine whether it isdesired to automatically suspend (e.g., place on hold) the in-place TWTagreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Inresponse to determining it is desired to automatically suspend thein-place TWT agreement, processing proceeds to block 1022. Conversely,in response to determining it is not desired to automatically suspendthe TWT agreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108,processing proceeds to block 1010. At block 1010, in response todetermining it is desired to neither automatically modify or suspend theTWT agreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108, theTWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 determine it is desired to automaticallyterminate (e.g., cancel, tear down, etc.) the TWT agreement andprocessing proceeds to block 1028.

At block 1012, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 negotiate a modified TWTagreement, the modified TWT agreement including non-trigger based(non-TB) communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106,108. In some examples, the remaining parameters of the TWT agreementremain unchanged. Additionally or alternatively, the TWT negotiator(s)208, 304 can modify one or more of the remaining parameters of the TWTagreement (e.g., timing, announcement mode, etc.) in addition to thenon-TB communication modification. In response to the initialization ofthe modified TWT agreement, processing proceeds to block 1014.

At block 1014, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 determine whether it isdesired to re-enable multi-user (MU) operation. In response todetermining it is desired to re-enable MU operation, processing proceedsto block 1018. Conversely, in response to determining it is not desiredto re-enable MU operation (e.g., MU operation remains disabled),processing proceeds to block 1016.

At block 1016, in response to determining re-enablement of MU operationis not desired (e.g., trigger based communication is not re-enabled),the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 proceed with the modified TWT agreementnegotiated at block 1012 and the program 1000 of FIG. 10 ends.

At block 1018, in response to determining re-enablement of MU operationis desired (e.g., trigger based communication is re-enabled), the TWTnegotiator(s) 208, 304 negotiate a second modified TWT agreement similarto the original TWT agreement, the modified TWT agreement including TBcommunication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Inresponse to initialization of the second modified TWT agreement, theprogram 1000 of FIG. 10 ends.

At block 1020, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 suspend the in-place TWTagreement between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. At block1022, in response to the suspension of the in-place TWT agreement, theTWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 determine whether it is desired to re-enablemulti-user (MU) operation. In response to determining it is desired tore-enable MU operation, processing proceeds to block 1026. Conversely,in response to determining it is not desired to re-enable MU operation(e.g., MU operation remains disabled), processing proceeds to block1024.

At block 1024, in response to determining MU operation and, accordingly,TB communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108,is not to be re-enabled, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 terminate (e.g.,cancel, tear down, etc.) the TWT agreement and processing proceeds toblock 1030.

At block 1026, in response to determining MU operation and, accordingly,TB communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108 isto be re-enabled, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 reinstate the suspendedTWT agreement (e.g., the parameters of the reinstated TWT agreementmatching the original TWT agreement) and the program 1000 of FIG. 10ends.

At block 1028, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 determine whether it isdesired to re-enable multi-user (MU) operation. In response todetermining it is desired to re-enable MU operation, processing proceedsto block 1032. Conversely, in response to determining it is not desiredto re-enable MU operation (e.g., MU operation remains disabled) and theprogram 1000 of FIG. 10 ends.

At block 1030, in response to the re-enablement of MU operation and thetermination of the original TWT agreement, the TWT negotiator(s) 208,304 negotiate a new TWT agreement including non-trigger based (non-TB)communication between the AP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. Insome examples, the remaining parameters of the TWT agreement remainunchanged compared to the original TWT agreement from block 1002.Additionally or alternatively, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 can modifyone or more of the remaining parameters of the new TWT agreement (e.g.,timing, announcement mode, etc.) in addition to the non-TB communicationmodification. In response to initialization of the negotiated TWTagreement, the program 1000 of FIG. 10 ends.

At block 1032, in response to MU operation remaining disabled and thetermination of the original TWT agreement, the TWT negotiator(s) 208,304 negotiate a new TWT agreement including TB communication between theAP 102 and one of the STAs 104, 106, 108. In some examples, theremaining parameters of the TWT agreement remain unchanged compared tothe original TWT agreement from block 1002. Additionally oralternatively, the TWT negotiator(s) 208, 304 can modify one or more ofthe remaining parameters of the new TWT agreement (e.g., timing,announcement mode, etc.) in addition to the TB communicationmodification. In response to initialization of the negotiated TWTagreement, the program 1000 of FIG. 10 ends.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 110A,B,C,D inaccordance with some embodiments that may be implemented in any one ofthe example AP 102 and/or the example STAs 104, 106, 108 of FIG. 1.Radio architecture 110A,B,C,D may include radio front-end module (FEM)circuitry 1104 a-b, radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b and baseband processingcircuitry 1108 a-b. Radio architecture 110A,B,C,D as shown includes bothWireless Local Area Network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT)functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In thisdisclosure, “WLAN” and “Wi-Fi” are used interchangeably.

FEM circuitry 1104 a-b may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry 1104 aand a Bluetooth (BT) FEM circuitry 1104 b. The WLAN FEM circuitry 1104 amay include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured tooperate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 1101, toamplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions ofthe received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 1106 a for furtherprocessing. The BT FEM circuitry 1104 b may include a receive signalpath which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signalsreceived from one or more antennas 1101, to amplify the received signalsand to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BTradio IC circuitry 1106 b for further processing. FEM circuitry 1104 amay also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitryconfigured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry1106 a for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 1101. Inaddition, FEM circuitry 1104 b may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided bythe radio IC circuitry 1106 b for wireless transmission by the one ormore antennas. In the embodiment of FIG. 11, although FEM 1104 a and FEM1104 b are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are notso limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown)that includes a transmit path and/or a receive path for both WLAN and BTsignals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries where at least someof the FEM circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths forboth WLAN and BT signals.

Radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry1106 a and BT radio IC circuitry 1106 b. The WLAN radio IC circuitry1106 a may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry todown-convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1104 a andprovide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108 a.BT radio IC circuitry 1106 b may in turn include a receive signal pathwhich may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 1104 b and provide baseband signals to BT basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 b. WLAN radio IC circuitry 1106 a may alsoinclude a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convertWLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry1108 a and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1104 afor subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 1101.BT radio IC circuitry 1106 b may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry to up-convert BT baseband signals providedby the BT baseband processing circuitry 1108 b and provide BT RF outputsignals to the FEM circuitry 1104 b for subsequent wireless transmissionby the one or more antennas 1101. In the embodiment of FIG. 11, althoughradio IC circuitries 1106 a and 1106 b are shown as being distinct fromone another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within theirscope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes atransmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BTsignals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at leastsome of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signalpaths for both WLAN and BT signals.

Baseband processing circuitry 1108 a-b may include a WLAN basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a and a BT baseband processing circuitry 1108b. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 1108 a may include a memory,such as, for example, a set of RAM arrays in a Fast Fourier Transform orInverse Fast Fourier Transform block (not shown) of the WLAN basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 1108 aand the BT baseband circuitry 1108 b may further include one or moreprocessors and control logic to process the signals received from thecorresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry1106 a-b, and to also generate corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signalsfor the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b. Each ofthe baseband processing circuitries 1108 a and 1108 b may furtherinclude physical layer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC)circuitry for generation and processing of the baseband signals and forcontrolling operations of the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b.

Referring still to FIG. 11, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BTcoexistence circuitry 1113 may include logic providing an interfacebetween the WLAN baseband circuitry 1108 a and the BT baseband circuitry1108 b to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. Inaddition, a switch 1103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry1104 a and the BT FEM circuitry 1104 b to allow switching between theWLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, althoughthe antennas 1101 are depicted as being respectively connected to theWLAN FEM circuitry 1104 a and the BT FEM circuitry 1104 b, embodimentsinclude within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas asbetween the WLAN and BT FEMs, or the provision of more than one antennaconnected to each of FEM 1104 a or 1104 b.

In some embodiments, the front-end module circuitry 1104 a-b, the radioIC circuitry 1106 a-b, and baseband processing circuitry 1108 a-b may beprovided on a single radio card, such as wireless radio card 1102. Insome other embodiments, the one or more antennas 1101, the FEM circuitry1104 a-b and the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b may be provided on a singleradio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-band the baseband processing circuitry 1108 a-b may be provided on asingle chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 1112.

In some embodiments, the wireless radio card 1102 may include a WLANradio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some ofthese embodiments, the radio architecture 110A,B,C,D may be configuredto receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM)or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communicationsignals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDMAsignals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 110A,B,C,Dmay be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (STA) such as a wirelessaccess point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fidevice. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 110A,B,C,D maybe configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance withspecific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standardsincluding, 802.11n-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016,802.11n-2009, 802.11ac, 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay and/or 802.11axstandards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scopeof embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture110A,B,C,D may also be suitable to transmit and/or receivecommunications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

In some embodiments, the radio architecture 110A,B,C,D may be configuredfor high-efficiency Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with theIEEE 802.11ax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture110A,B,C,D may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDMAtechnique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in thisrespect.

In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 110A,B,C,D may beconfigured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or moreother modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g.,direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) and/or frequencyhopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-divisionmultiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency-division multiplexing(FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limitedin this respect.

In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 11, the BT basebandcircuitry 1108 b may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivitystandard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 14.0 or Bluetooth 12.0, or anyother iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that includeBT functionality as shown for example in FIG. 11, the radio architecture110A,B,C,D may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connectionoriented (SCO) link and or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of theembodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture110A,B,C,D may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) linkfor BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is notlimited in this respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BTfunctionality, the radio architecture may be configured to engage in aBT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments,as shown in FIG. 11, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radiocard may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as singlewireless radio card 1102, although embodiments are not so limited, andinclude within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards

In some embodiments, the radio-architecture 110A,B,C,D may include otherradio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular(e.g., 3GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G communications).

In some IEEE 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 110A,B,C,D maybe configured for communication over various channel bandwidthsincluding bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 5 MHz, 5.5 MHz, 6 MHz,8 MHz, 10 MHz, 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz (with contiguous bandwidths) or80+80 MHz (160 MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In someembodiments, a 920 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of theembodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencieshowever.

FIG. 12 illustrates WLAN FEM circuitry 1104 a in accordance with someembodiments. Although the example of FIG. 12 is described in conjunctionwith the WLAN FEM circuitry 1104 a, the example of FIG. 12 may bedescribed in conjunction with the example BT FEM circuitry 1104 b (FIG.11), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1104 a may include a TX/RX switch1202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 1104 a may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1104 a may include alow-noise amplifier (LNA) 1206 to amplify received RF signals 1203 andprovide the amplified received RF signals 1207 as an output (e.g., tothe radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b (FIG. 11)). The transmit signal path ofthe circuitry 1104 a may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify inputRF signals 1209 (e.g., provided by the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b), andone or more filters 1112, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-passfilters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 1115for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the antennas 1101(FIG. 11)) via an example duplexer 1214.

In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the FEM circuitry1104 a may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequencyspectrum or the 12 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, thereceive signal path of the FEM circuitry 1104 a may include a receivesignal path duplexer 1204 to separate the signals from each spectrum aswell as provide a separate LNA 1206 for each spectrum as shown. In theseembodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1104 a mayalso include a power amplifier 1210 and a filter 1212, such as a BPF, anLPF or another type of filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmitsignal path duplexer 1204 to provide the signals of one of the differentspectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by theone or more of the antennas 1101 (FIG. 11). In some embodiments, BTcommunications may utilize the 2.4 GHz signal paths and may utilize thesame FEM circuitry 1104 a as the one used for WLAN communications.

FIG. 13 illustrates radio IC circuitry 1106 a in accordance with someembodiments. The radio IC circuitry 1106 a is one example of circuitrythat may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 1106a/1106 b (FIG. 11), although other circuitry configurations may also besuitable. Alternatively, the example of FIG. 13 may be described inconjunction with the example BT radio IC circuitry 1106 b.

In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 1106 a may include a receivesignal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of theradio IC circuitry 1106 a may include at least mixer circuitry 1302,such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifiercircuitry 1306 and filter circuitry 1308. The transmit signal path ofthe radio IC circuitry 1106 a may include at least filter circuitry 1312and mixer circuitry 1314, such as, for example, up-conversion mixercircuitry. Radio IC circuitry 1106 a may also include synthesizercircuitry 1304 for synthesizing a frequency 1305 for use by the mixercircuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314. The mixer circuitry 1302and/or 1314 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured toprovide direct conversion functionality. The latter type of circuitrypresents a much simpler architecture as compared with standardsuper-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought aboutby the same may be alleviated for example through the use of OFDMmodulation. FIG. 13 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio ICcircuitry, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where eachof the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. Forinstance, mixer circuitry 1314 may each include one or more mixers, andfilter circuitries 1308 and/or 1312 may each include one or morefilters, such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs according to applicationneeds. For example, when mixer circuitries are of the direct-conversiontype, they may each include two or more mixers.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1302 may be configured todown-convert RF signals 1207 received from the FEM circuitry 1104 a-b(FIG. 11) based on the synthesized frequency 1305 provided bysynthesizer circuitry 1304. The amplifier circuitry 1306 may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filtercircuitry 1308 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signalsfrom the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals1307. Output baseband signals 1307 may be provided to the basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a-b (FIG. 11) for further processing. In someembodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments, mixer circuitry 1302 may comprise passive mixers, althoughthe scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1314 may be configured toup-convert input baseband signals 1311 based on the synthesizedfrequency 1305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1304 to generate RFoutput signals 1209 for the FEM circuitry 1104 a-b. The baseband signals1211 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 1108 a-b andmay be filtered by filter circuitry 1312. The filter circuitry 1312 mayinclude an LPF or a BPF, although the scope of the embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry1314 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged forquadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively with thehelp of synthesizer 1304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302and the mixer circuitry 1314 may each include two or more mixers eachconfigured for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and the mixer circuitry 1314 maybe arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion,respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1302 and themixer circuitry 1314 may be configured for super-heterodyne operation,although this is not a requirement.

Mixer circuitry 1302 may comprise, according to one embodiment:quadrature passive mixers (e.g., for the in-phase (I) and quadraturephase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 1207 from FIG.12 may be down-converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals tobe sent to the baseband processor

Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety-degreetime-varying LO switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitrywhich may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLO) from a localoscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 1305 of synthesizer1304 (FIG. 13). In some embodiments, the LO frequency may be the carrierfrequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency may be afraction of the carrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency,one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero andninety-degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by thesynthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect.

In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (thepercentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset(the difference between start points of the period). In someembodiments, the LO signals may have an 85% duty cycle and an 80%offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry (e.g.,the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) path) may operate at an 80%duty cycle, which may result in a significant reduction is powerconsumption.

The RF input signal 1207 (FIG. 12) may comprise a balanced signal,although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to low-noiseamplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 1306 (FIG. 13) or to filtercircuitry 1308 (FIG. 13).

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 and the inputbaseband signals 1311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scopeof the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals 1307 and the input basebandsignals 1311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternateembodiments, the radio IC circuitry may include analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for otherspectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments isnot limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1304 may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 1304 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier,or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequencydivider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1304may include digital synthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using adigital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still includesome analog components, its footprint may be scaled down much more thanthe footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments,frequency input into synthesizer circuitry 1304 may be provided by avoltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement.A divider control input may further be provided by either the basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a-b (FIG. 11) depending on the desired outputfrequency 1305. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N)may be determined from a look-up table (e.g., within a Wi-Fi card) basedon a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined orindicated by the example application processor 1110. The applicationprocessor 1110 may include, or otherwise be connected to, one of theexample STA based target wake time controller 112 and/or the example APbased target wake time controller 114 (e.g., depending on which devicethe example radio architecture is implemented in).

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1304 may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 1305, while inother embodiments, the output frequency 1305 may be a fraction of thecarrier frequency (e.g., one-half the carrier frequency, one-third thecarrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 1305 maybe a LO frequency (fLO).

FIG. 14 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processingcircuitry 1108 a in accordance with some embodiments. The basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a is one example of circuitry that may besuitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 1108 a (FIG. 11),although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.Alternatively, the example of FIG. 14 may be used to implement theexample BT baseband processing circuitry 1108 b of FIG. 11.

The baseband processing circuitry 1108 a may include a receive basebandprocessor (RX BBP) 1402 for processing receive baseband signals 1309provided by the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b (FIG. 11) and a transmitbaseband processor (TX BBP) 1404 for generating transmit basebandsignals 1211 for the radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b. The basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a may also include control logic 1406 forcoordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 1108 a.

In some embodiments (e.g., when analog baseband signals are exchangedbetween the baseband processing circuitry 1108 a-b and the radio ICcircuitry 1106 a-b), the baseband processing circuitry 1108 a mayinclude ADC 1410 to convert analog baseband signals 1409 received fromthe radio IC circuitry 1106 a-b to digital baseband signals forprocessing by the RX BBP 1402. In these embodiments, the basebandprocessing circuitry 1108 a may also include DAC 1412 to convert digitalbaseband signals from the TX BBP 1404 to analog baseband signals 1411.

In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or OFDMA signals, suchas through baseband processor 1108 a, the transmit baseband processor1404 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDMA signals as appropriatefor transmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT).The receive baseband processor 1402 may be configured to processreceived OFDM signals or OFDMA signals by performing an FFT. In someembodiments, the receive baseband processor 1402 may be configured todetect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing anautocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and byperforming a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preamblesmay be part of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

Referring back to FIG. 11, in some embodiments, the antennas 1101 (FIG.11) may each comprise one or more directional or omnidirectionalantennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas,patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types ofantennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectivelyseparated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the differentchannel characteristics that may result. Antennas 1101 may each includea set of phased-array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

Although the radio-architecture 110A,B,C,D is illustrated as havingseveral separate functional elements, one or more of the functionalelements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations ofsoftware-configured elements, such as processing elements includingdigital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. Forexample, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1500structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 4-10 to implement theexample AP 102 and/or one of the example STAs 104, 106, 108 of FIG. 1.The processor platform 1500 can be, for example, a server, a personalcomputer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neuralnetwork), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tabletsuch as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internetappliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital video recorder, aBlu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder, a set topbox, a headset or other wearable device, or any other type of computingdevice.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1512. The processor 1512 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1512 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs,or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor implements the example STA based target waketime controller 112, the example component interface 202, the exampledata manager 204, the example connection manager 206, and the exampleTWT negotiator 208 and/or the example AP based target wake timecontroller 114, the example component interface 302, and the example TWTnegotiator 304 (e.g., the processor 1512 only implementing one of theabove sets based upon the location of the processor 1512).

The processor 1512 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1513 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1512 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1514 anda non-volatile memory 1516 via a bus 1518. The volatile memory 1514 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random AccessMemory (RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device.The non-volatile memory 1516 may be implemented by flash memory and/orany other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1514,1516 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1520. The interface circuit 1520 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1522 are connectedto the interface circuit 1520. The input device(s) 1522 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 1512. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 1524 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1520 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1524 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printerand/or speaker. The interface circuit 1520 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chipand/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1520 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 1526. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 1500 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1528 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1528 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 1532 of FIGS. 4-10 may be stored inthe mass storage device 1528, in the volatile memory 1514, in thenon-volatile memory 1516, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed thatfacilitate modification of a target wake time (TWT) service period (SP)that was previously agreed upon between an access point (AP) and one ormore stations (STAs). In some examples, the modification to the TWT SPcan result in the STA operating in a doze (e.g., sleep, low power, etc.)mode for a greater period of time, thereby decreasing power consumptionof the STA. In other examples, the modification to the TWT SP can resultin greater control of the SP by the STA, ensuring that any queued datain an uplink (UL) buffer of the STA is properly transmitted to the APduring a TWT SP between the AP and the STA.

Example 1 includes a station based apparatus to facilitate target waketime operations between an access point and the station, the apparatuscomprising a data manager to determine at least one of a quantity ofuplink data to be sent by the station or a quantity of downlink data tobe received by the station, a connection manager to schedule aconnection of the station to a device different than the access point,and a target wake time negotiator in communication with a componentinterface to at least one of receive a signal from or distribute asignal to the access point, the signal to modify a service period of thetarget wake time based on at least one of the quantity of uplink data,the quantity of downlink data, or the scheduled connection.

Example 2 includes the station based apparatus of example 1, wherein thetarget wake time negotiator is further to distribute a signal to theaccess point via the component interface requesting an extension of theservice period of the target wake time via an end of service period bitwhen the data manager indicates a non-zero quantity of uplink data to besent by the station and the target wake time is trigger based.

Example 3 includes the station based apparatus of example 2, wherein thetarget wake time negotiator is further to distribute the signal to theaccess point via the component interface requesting the extension of theservice period of the target wake time via a quality of service nullframe included in a power save poll when the data manager indicates thenon-zero quantity of uplink data to be sent by the station and thetarget wake time is not trigger based.

Example 4 includes the station based apparatus of example 1, wherein thetarget wake time negotiator is further to distribute a signal to theaccess point via the component interface requesting early termination ofthe service period of the target wake time, the early termination todecrease power consumption of the station.

Example 5 includes the station based apparatus of example 1, wherein thetarget wake time negotiator is further to distribute a signal to theaccess point via the component interface indicating the service periodof the target wake time cannot be exceeded when the connection managerindicates the station is scheduled to connect with the device differentfrom the access point, and the service period of the target wake can beexceeded when the connection manager indicates the station has no otherscheduled connections.

Example 6 includes the station based apparatus of example 1, wherein thetarget wake time negotiator is further to set a multi user bit high, themulti user bit to disable trigger based communication between thestation and the access point.

Example 7 includes the station based apparatus of example 6, wherein thetarget wake time negotiator, in response to the disabling of triggerbased communication, is further to at least one of modify a target waketime agreement between the station and the access point, the modifiedagreement including an indication of non-trigger based communicationbetween the station and the access point, suspend the target wake timeagreement between the station and the access point, the suspendedagreement to be reinstated when the target wake time negotiatorre-enables trigger based communication, or terminate the target waketime agreement between the station and the access point, the terminatedagreement to be replaced by an updated agreement including at least oneof trigger based or non-trigger based operation.

Example 8 includes an access point based apparatus to facilitate targetwake time operations between the access point and a station, theapparatus comprising a component interface to retrieve a message fromthe station, the message indicating a modification to a service periodof the target wake time based on at least one of a quantity of uplinkdata queued at the station or a scheduled connection of the station, anda target wake time negotiator in communication with a componentinterface to at least one of accept or reject the modification to thetarget wake time service period based on a quantity of downlink dataqueued at the access point.

Example 9 includes the access point based apparatus of example 8,wherein the target wake time negotiator is further to terminate theservice period of the target wake time when the message includes atleast one of an end of service period bit or an indication of no queueduplink data from the station.

Example 10 includes the access point based apparatus of example 8,wherein the target wake time negotiator is further to maintain theservice period of the target wake time when the message includes anindication of a non-zero quantity of queued uplink data from thestation.

Example 11 includes the access point based apparatus of example 8,wherein the target wake time negotiator is further to terminate theservice period of the target wake time when the message includes atermination request and the access point has no queued downlink data tosend to the station.

Example 12 includes the access point based apparatus of example 11,wherein the target wake time negotiator is further to reject thetermination request and maintain the service period of the target waketime when the access point has queued downlink data to send to thestation.

Example 13 includes the access point based apparatus of example 8,wherein the target wake time negotiator is further to extend the serviceperiod of the target wake time when the message includes an indicationthat the service period of the target wake time can be exceeded and theaccess point has queued downlink data to send to the station.

Example 14 includes the access point based apparatus of example 8,wherein the target wake time negotiator is further to receive a multiuser bit set high from the station, the multi user bit to disabletrigger based communication between the station and the access point.

Example 15 includes the access point based apparatus of example 14,wherein the target wake time negotiator, in response to the disabling oftrigger based communication, is further to at least one of modify atarget wake time agreement between the station and the access point, themodified agreement including an indication of non-trigger basedcommunication between the station and the access point, suspend thetarget wake time agreement between the station and the access point, thesuspended agreement to be reinstated when the target wake timenegotiator re-enables trigger based communication, or terminate thetarget wake time agreement between the station and the access point, theterminated agreement to be replaced by an updated agreement including atleast one of trigger based or non-trigger based operation.

Example 16 includes a method to facilitate target wake time operationsbetween an access point and a station, the method comprising determiningat least one of a quantity of uplink data to be sent by the station or aquantity of downlink data to be received by the station, scheduling aconnection of the station to a device different than the access point,and facilitating signal based communication between the station and theaccess point, the signal to modify a service period of the target waketime based on at least one of the quantity of uplink data, the quantityof downlink data, or the scheduled connection.

Example 17 includes the method of example 16, further includingdistributing a signal to the access point requesting an extension of theservice period of the target wake time via an end of service period bitin response to an indication of a non-zero quantity of uplink data to besent by the station.

Example 18 includes the method of example 16, further includingdistributing a signal to the access point requesting early terminationof the service period of the target wake time, the early termination todecrease power consumption of the station.

Example 19 includes the method of example 16, further includingdistributing a signal to the access point indicating the service periodof the target wake time cannot be exceeded in response to an indicationthat the station is scheduled to connect with the device different fromthe access point, and the service period of the target wake can beexceeded in response to an indication that the station has no otherscheduled connections.

Example 20 includes the method of example 16, further including, inresponse to a disabling of trigger based communication between thestation and the access point, at least one of modifying a target waketime agreement between the station and the access point, the modifiedagreement including an indication of non-trigger based communicationbetween the station and the access point, suspending the target waketime agreement between the station and the access point, the suspendedagreement to be reinstated when the target wake time negotiatorre-enables trigger based communication, or terminating the target waketime agreement between the station and the access point, the terminatedagreement to be replaced by an updated agreement including at least oneof trigger based or non-trigger based operation.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to facilitate a target wake time(TWT) operation between an access point and a station, the apparatuscomprising: a connection manager to schedule a connection between thestation and a device different than the access point; and a target waketime negotiator in communication with a component interface, the targetwake time negotiator to: in response to the connection being scheduled,transmit a first signal to the access point to initialize a first modeof operation including first instructions to disallow extension of TWTservice periods (SPs); initiate a first TWT SP between the station andthe access point; and after performance of the connection between thestation and the device different than the access point, transmit asecond signal to the access point to initialize a second mode ofoperation including second instructions to allow extension of a secondTWT SP between the station and the access point.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the target wake time negotiator is to, before theperformance of the connection between the station and the devicedifferent than the access point, reject a request from the access pointto extend a third TWT SP between the station and the access point. 3.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the target wake time negotiator is to:transmit a request to the access point to extend the first TWT SP; andin response to agreement from the access point, transmit a third signalto the access point indicative of a duration by which to extend thefirst TWT SP between the station and the access point.
 4. The apparatusof claim 3, wherein the third signal includes a TWT extension framespecifying the duration by which to extend the first TWT SP.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the third signal includes a TWTinformation frame that has been repurposed to store the duration bywhich to extend the first TWT SP.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe target wake time negotiator is to query the connection manager todetermine the connection scheduled between the station and the deviceother than the access point.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thestation is a first station, the access point is a first access point,the device other than the first access point includes at least one of asecond station or a second access point, and the connection manager toschedule the connection between the first station and at least one ofthe second station or the second access point.
 8. An apparatus tofacilitate target wake time (TWT) operation between an access point anda station, the apparatus comprising: memory; first instructions; andprocessor circuitry to execute the first instructions to cause theprocessor circuitry to: schedule a connection between the station and adevice different than the access point; in response to the connectionbeing scheduled, transmit a first signal to the access point toinitialize a first mode of operation including second instructions todisallow extension of TWT service periods (SPs); initiate a first TWT SPbetween the station and the access point; and after performance of theconnection between the station and the device different than the accesspoint, transmit a second signal to the access point to initialize asecond mode of operation including third instructions to allow extensionof a second TWT SP between the station and the access point.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor circuitry is to, before theperformance of the connection between the station and the devicedifferent than the access point, reject a request from the access pointto extend a third TWT SP between the station and the access point. 10.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processor circuitry is to:transmit a request to the access point to extend the first TWT SP; andin response to agreement from the access point, transmit a third signalto the access point indicative of a duration by which to extend thefirst TWT SP between the station and the access point.
 11. The apparatusof claim 10, wherein the third signal includes a TWT extension framespecifying the duration by which to extend the first TWT SP.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the third signal includes a TWTinformation frame that has been repurposed to store the duration bywhich to extend the first TWT SP.
 13. The apparatus of claim 8, whereinthe processor circuitry is to query a connection manager to determinethe connection scheduled between the station and the device other thanthe access point.
 14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the station is afirst station, the access point is a first access point, the deviceother than the first access point includes at least one of a secondstation or a second access point, and the processor circuitry is toschedule the connection between the first station and at least one ofthe second station or the second access point.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium comprising first instructions which,when executed, cause processor circuitry to at least: schedule aconnection between a station and a device different than an accesspoint; in response to the connection being scheduled, transmit a firstsignal to the access point to initialize a first mode of operationincluding second instructions to disallow extension of target wake time(TWT) service periods (SPs); initiate a first TWT SP between the stationand the access point; and after performance of the connection betweenthe station and the device different than the access point, transmit asecond signal to the access point to initialize a second mode ofoperation including third instructions to allow extension of a secondTWT SP between the station and the access point.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first instructions,when executed, cause the processor circuitry to, before the performanceof the connection between the station and the device different than theaccess point, reject a request from the access point to extend a thirdTWT SP between the station and the access point.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first instructions,when executed, cause the processor circuitry to: transmit a request tothe access point to extend the first TWT SP; and in response toagreement from the access point, transmit a third signal to the accesspoint indicative of a duration by which to extend the first TWT SPbetween the station and the access point.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the third signal includesa TWT extension frame specifying the duration by which to extend thefirst TWT SP.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim17, wherein the third signal includes a TWT information frame that hasbeen repurposed to store the duration by which to extend the first TWTSP.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, whereinthe first instructions, when executed, cause the processor circuitry toquery a connection manager to determine the connection scheduled betweenthe station and the device other than the access point.